Taking the first steps

This is the unedited version of an article in Malvern Hills District Council's View from the Hills magazine, autumn 2008.

Malvern faces up to Climate Change and a future beyond Oil Dependency

In 2006 Malvern Hills was in the news for the wrong reason - having been assessed by the WWF as having the highest ecological footprint in the West Midlands [1]. This prompted the Council and its partners to commit to a programme of action to bring about a significant reduction in the district’s dependence on fossil fuels. This led to ‘climate change’ becoming one of three key strands of the Malvern Hills Community Strategy, alongside others focusing on how best to meet local housing needs and how to ensure local economic viability and prosperity for the District.

Recently the work on this has begun to move forward with a group of some twenty five people from the local area who bring differing expertise but shared commitment to the cause. They are working together on a forward-looking project to address the implications and the future for our locality and for our ways of life in the face of the major challenges of diminishing affordable oil and gas supplies and the effects of global warming and climate change.

The initiative, called Transition Malvern, is taking a strongly positive and proactive approach and sees the inevitable challenges before us as an opportunity to rethink our ways of life and to make some fresh choices about the kinds of communities and environment to which we want to relate. The underpinning arguments are that the period of cheap fossil fuels has now passed, that climate change is happening whether we like it or not, and that a positive and planned response to change will leave us in a much stronger position than simply waiting for the consequences to befall us.

The title ‘Transition Malvern’ reflects the Group’s decision to adopt the ‘Transition Town’ model of change, first advocated in 2005 by environmentalist Rob Hopkins. This model is now rapidly being adopted by towns and villages across the globe. Indeed, there are already some sixty towns in the UK that have made their commitment to ‘transition’ as well as growing numbers in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere [2]. The aim is to equip local communities for climate change and for life beyond ‘peak oil’ by leading them through a manageable process of adaptation and development rather than by sudden or dramatic change. And as Hopkins himself argues, to be effective, the process needs to be inclusive and community-led - with residents, businesses, public bodies, local organisations and schools all working together on innovative and practical ideas, and devoting their energies and skills to implementing them. In particular, the transition model focuses on

• Identifying and pursuing practical actions that will reduce our carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.
• Building greater resilience and self reliance in key fields such as food and energy supply, health care and welfare, jobs and economy, social provision and community development.

Key to progress, therefore, is getting as many people involved as possible and this is the first priority of the Malvern Hills Group who are now looking for volunteers and as many interested parties as possible to participate in the projects and initiatives that matter to them and which will all help to make a difference. First and foremost, the Transition Malvern initiative must be led from within the community, although it also enjoys strong backing from the District Council.

Explore the Transition Malvern website or have a look at the Transition Towns website  to learn more about the possibilities and to take part in the discussion forum there. Get in touch for more information about the Malvern Hills initiative and to discuss how you might become involved and commit to the process of transition in your locality.

Twenty of England’s Transition Towns & Villages

Ashburton
Bath
Brighton & Hove
Bristol
Canterbury
Coventry
Exeter
Falmouth
Glastonbury
Isle of Wight
Lewes
Leicester
Lostwithiel
Norwich
Nottingham
Seaton
South Liverpool
Stroud
Totnes
West Kirby

Local Organisations With Representation on Transition Malvern

AECB – The Sustainable Building Association
Agenda 21 (Malvern Hills)
Colwall Greener
Community First
Environment Agency
Festival Housing
GreenLink
Green and Away
Green Party (Malvern Hills Branch)
Greenpeace (Malvern Branch)
Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Malvern Hills District Council
MEGA
Sustainable Policy, World Wildlife Foundation
The Big Green Idea
The Fold, Bransford
West Mercia Constabulary

Notes

[1]  In WWF's West Midlands region report, published June 2006, the Malvern Hills District Council area had the highest Footprint (impact) of 5.8 global hectares per capita.

[2] See Transition Towns links on Reference page.